Senate sends $1.2T spending bill to Biden’s desk in late night vote
by Aris Folley - 03/23/24 2:04 AM ET
The Senate in the early hours of Saturday passed a sprawling $1.2 trillion package to fund large swaths of the government, capping off a dramatic negotiation in the upper chamber and an intense months-long spending fight.
The chamber approved the mammoth package, which spans more than a thousand pages, in a 74-24 vote, sending the bill to President Biden’s desk for his signature. The final vote came around 2 a.m., two hours after the shutdown deadline.
The House passed the legislation in a bipartisan, 286-134 vote earlier on Friday.
The package is the second and final batch of annual government funding bills to clear Congress, about six months after the initial deadline for lawmakers to finish their spending work for fiscal year 2024, which ends in late September.
The package — which combines half of the 12 annual funding bills — covers spending for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security (DHS), Labor, Health and Human Services, and State, as well as general government, financial services and foreign operations.
Negotiations to expedite its passage in the Senate dragged on for hours Friday, as conservatives pressed for votes on amendments to the plan. At one point, many senators were pessimistic about the possibility of passing the bill before Sunday.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4550761-senate-sends-1-2t-spending-bill-to-bidens-desk-in-late-night-vote/
